Duterte: Becoming a Sandiganbayan justice was my 'ultimate target'

Dharel Placido, ABS-CBN News

MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday revealed that he would have pursued his “ultimate target” of becoming a Sandiganbayan justice had he not been appointed as Officer-in-Charge (OIC) Vice Mayor of Davao City after the EDSA revolution in 1986.

In a speech in Davao City, Duterte recalled how he had to take the place of his mother, Soledad, who rejected an appointment by then-President Corazon Aquino to become the OIC-vice mayor of Davao City.

“I was just a prosecutor, I was a trial prosecutor for 9 years. And in 1987, I was appointed as OIC vice mayor… the name of my mother, Soledad Duterte, was in the list of persons going to take their oath of office because Cory Aquino was coming. At the last minute, my mother balked. She doesn’t want a life of in politics. So, ako ang inilagay nila. All they had to do was to replace it with a white ink and type ‘Rodrigo,’” Duterte said.

“I said I don’t want to be a politician. I just want to be a judge because the ultimate target ko was to be a Sandiganbayan judge. But along the way, I had this ruckus with the OIC mayor and found myself running in 1988 as mayor.”